Benchmark indices near 5-mth high; HDFC Bank up 3.6%

Benchmark indices settled the day higher, gaining for the fourth straight week driven by financials even after RBI put HDFC Bank back in the FII ban list.

The Central Bank said the private bank has crossed overall limit of 74% of its paid-up capital and no further purchases of shares the bank would be allowed via exchanges for FIIs. It had allowed allowed foreign investors to resume buying in the private bank earlier.

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Nifty50 rose as much as 1.3% during the early morning trade led by HDFC Bank after it gained 9.5% to a record high of Rs 1,454.

The S&P BSE Sensex settled the day at 28,469, up 167 points, while the broader Nifty50 ended at 8,822, up 44 points.

"Market opened with a gap up supported by banking & pharma stocks. Pharma stocks witnessed glimpse of turnaround due to improvement in FDA outlook, investors are considering them as a good value pick in the long-term. On the other hand, HDFC Bank provided a flip to the index after RBIs lifted the ban on FII’s investment," said Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Financial Services.

"We continue to have a positive outlook on the bank but this price trend is likely to normalize given RBI re-imposing the ban after FII holding exceeded the threshold limit of 74% on hefty buying today," he added.

Sectors and Stocks

HDFC Bank pared gains to end 3.6% higher after the RBI put the bank back in its FII bank list. Market cap of HDFC surpassed that of RIL's post the announcement. Nifty Bank also reached its record high of 21,042 led by rally in banks.

Financials surged with the Nifty Bank index rising as much as 4% to a record high while both the Nifty Private Bank index and the Nifty Financial Services index gained over 3.5% to hit all-time highs. Nifty Bank later pared the gains to end 1.5% higher.

Pharma stocks also rose with Sun Pharmaceutical Industries among top percentage gainers, up 3.8% on BSE Sensex. The healthcare index also gained over 1.5%

Meanwhile, Indiabulls Housing Finance and Indian Oil Corporation gained 2.7% and 2.2% respectively after reports that they will replace BHEL and Idea Cellular in NSE’s benchmark index Nifty. The changes will come into effect from March 31, 2017, according to the announcement.

Asian stock markets took a breather on Friday from their recent surge as investors booked profits, while the dollar inched up after Thursday's slide and optimism over possible renewed supply cuts by OPEC lifted oil prices.

European equities fell on Thursday after seven straight sessions of gains, with weaker metal prices weighing on miners. The pan-European STOXX 600 fell 0.4% after recent gains to a two-month high on Wednesday.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan pulled back 0.2%, on track to end the week up 1.2%, its fourth straight weekly gain.

Overnight, Wall Street lost momentum, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average barely eking out its sixth straight record high, while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq snapped a seven-day winning streak as investors slowed buying to digest recent gains.